The countdown to Christmas

For many of us, the holiday season carries some of our fondest memories, and time spent dearly with friends and family. I’m reminded of my mum’s delicious roast dinners, watching the Home Alone films on the sofa, and playing with whatever new toys Santa decided to bring me that December 25^th. There are so many things that make Christmas such a joy for us all, and one of those things is the 11 month build-up to it. It’s a time to be adored, and I’m all for getting into the spirit of it a bit early, but when I’m finding advent calendars being sold at Tesco’s before we’re even through with October, it all starts to feel a bit ridiculous.

The trouble with these premature celebrations is that by the time Christmas day rocks around, a lot of us have used up all our festive spirit for the year. We’ve stared at our holiday decorations for far too too long, eaten enough chocolates and cookies to feed us the whole year, and listened to Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé more times than we can count. What ends up happening is that the hype leading up to Christmas becomes more enjoyable than the day itself, because we set our expectations so high with our overcompensating festive cheer that the climax can be nothing but underwhelming in the end.

It also results in a trivialisation of other holidays contained within the months leading up to Christmas, particularly Halloween, an increasingly popular holiday especially amongst students. Dressing up in costumes and decorating our houses for the spooky season is such a fun time, but the shadow that Christmas casts over it can dampen our excitement for October 31^st, making us treat it as a holiday within a holiday rather than it’s own unique thing. If we’re going to start the festive season so early, at least let Halloween have its time before we bring out the mince pies and mulled wine.

I get why we all want to celebrate so early. Christmas is a time of universal joy, and such a wonderful holiday to end each year on. It brings people together, gives us food and drink to share, casts light on the gloomy season of winter, and reawakens that childlike joy in all of us that we sometimes forget to stay in touch with. There’s a reason it’s the world’s most popular holiday, adapted and shared across cultures all around the world, and its absolutely a time to be cherished. But if we could just hold off a bit longer before kicking into that festive spirit, I think we’d find those memories we make would be ones we hold dearer than ever.